Method for forming tapered composite metal-clad shingles

ABSTRACT

A method for continuously manufacturing metal-clad shingles which have a taper from their forward edge to their rear edge, which comprises the steps of depositing a plasticized asphaltic composition upon a continuously moving backing web, shaping the composition to form a tapered shingle body having at its rear edge a composition thickness not substantially greater than the backing web and a greater thickness at the forward body edge. A metal foil is adhesively applied to the rear face of the continuously moving backing web, and a metallic sheathing is continuously preformed and applied to a portion of the face of the asphaltic material on the backing web as the backing web continues its forward movement.

United States Patent [72] Inventors AlexanderA. Chalmers [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] METHOD FOR FORMING TAPERED COMPOSITE METAL-GLAD SHINGLES 6 Claims, 30 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. C1 156/238, 117/5, 117/43, 156/291 [51] Int. Cl. E04d 15/07 [50] F1e1dofSearch..... 156/231,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,158,357 5/1939 Eckert 117/5 2,164,508 7/1939 Fasold 117/5 2,194,427 3/1940 Kirschbraun 117/5 X 2,178,273 10/1939 Wittenberg 117/43 A 2,198,095 4/1940 Sweedler 1 17/5 2,347,250 4/1944 Burnett 117/5 X 2,661,303 12/1953 Fasold et a1 117/5 2,356,570 8/1944 Deuch1er.... 117/5 2,559,879 7/1951 Kalin 117/5 Primary Examiner-Carl D. Quarforth Assistant Examiner-Gary G. Solyst Attorneys Robert S. Dunham, P. E. Henninger, Lester W.

Clark, Gerald W. Griffin, Thomas F. Moran, R. Bradlee Boal and Christopher C. Dunhant ABSTRACT: A method for continuously manufacturing metal-clad shingles which have a taper from their forward edge to their rear edge, which comprises the steps of depositing a plasticized asphaltic composition upon a continuously moving backing web, shaping the composition to form a tapered shingle body having at its rear edge a composition thickness not substantially greater than the backing web and a greater thickness at the forward body edge, A metal foil is adhesively applied to the rear face of the continuously moving backing web, and a metallic sheathing is continuously preformed and applied to a portion of the face of the asphaltic material on the backing web as the backing web continues its forward movement.

PATENTED SEF21 [an 3 507 529 sum 010$ 12 [III/III III INVENTORID' ALEX/W05? E." C/MZMEKS 5 750 6/UA/ 74 A ORNEY PATENTED SEPZI I97! saw on HF 12 INVENTOR5 AL EMA/015? E. (If/141M516 PATENTEU SEP21 [an sum as or 12 INVENTORS' ALEXA/V05? 15 CAM/MIA BY 5. TED G/UA/M PATENTED sEP21 Ian 3 6 07, 529

sum 07 [1F 12 SEPARATOR TOWER l N VENTORS ALE/4005f 5 09m M595 5 50 G/U/Uf/l PATENIEDSEPZI 197! 3 607 529 SHEET 11l1F 12 INvENTORS 41 EX/M/DEE E C/MLMR:

BY 5. TE D 6/0/0734 METHOD FOR. FORMING TAPERED COMPOSITE METAL-CLAD SHINGLES It is a primary object of this invention to provide a method for the continuous fabrication of an asphaltic composition shingle which is metal clad on both faces thereof with foil or sheet, e.g., aluminum foil or sheet, and withal has the taper of a conventional wooden shingle.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method for making tapered, metal-clad, composition shingles in which all of the successive fabricating steps are automatically performed without any interruption to the continuous operation of the method.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a continuously operating method for manufacturing tapered shingles, which are metal-clad and whose body comprises an asphaltic composition, in multiple widths across a single supporting web whereby the rate of production is greatly increased.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a method for continuously forming composition metal-clad shingles which are tapered in simulation of a conventional wooden shingle, and which are otherwise very attractive in appearance and fire resistant to a very high degree.

These and other objectives and advantages of the method herein will be specifically pointed out as the description thereof proceeds, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following description, taken in light of the drawings:

In the drawings, like reference numerals indicate like parts, and in these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an asphaltic composition metal-clad strip shingle manufactured according to the method described herein;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a single asphaltic composition metal-clad shingle made according to the method described herein;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a double, single strip shingle corresponding to that of FIG. I and which comprises the preferred manner of practicing the method disclosed herein;

FIG. 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view on line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7A through 7I-I, partly in section and partly in full line, comprise an exemplary production line for the continuous manufacture of tapered, metal-clad, composition shingle strips such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 7A illustrates a felt reel, a dry felt accumulator, a spray section, a saturator and a striking-in section;

FIG. 78 illustrates a coating mixer, a coating section, an asphalt coated sheet pin-chain drive, and a pulling and cooling conveyor;

FIG. 7C and 7D illustrate a cooling section;

FIG. 7E illustrates an adhesive applicator and an aluminumfoil-unwinding station;

FIG. 7F illustrates a cladding metal strip tower;

FIG. 76 illustrates an aluminum slitter and embossing station, and an aluminum strip separator tower;

FIG. 7H shows an aluminum strip bender;

FIG. 71 illustrates an edge rolling and final aluminum-stripbeinding station, laminating rolls, pull rolls, finish-forming rolls, and an embossing and notching section, a printing section, a web drive and slitting section and a cut off station;

FIG. 8 is a transverse view through the forming line showing a shingle-contouring mechanism;

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG. 7H showing a pair of aluminum strip guide channels;

FIG. 10 is a transverse cross-sectional view on line 10-10 of FIG. 7I-I showing the asphaltic composition shingle with its metallic cladding assembled therewith;

FIG. 11 is a transverse sectional view on line 11-11 of FIG. 71 showing a preliminary stage of the shingle during its formation; 7

FIG. 12 is a transverse sectional view on line 12-12 of FIG. 71 showing a further step in the formation of the shingle;

FIG. 13 is a transverse sectional view on line 13-13 of FIG. 7] showing a still further progression in the formation of the shingle;

FIG. 14 is a transverse sectional view on line 14-14 of FIG. 7.] showing the edge rolling of the metallic face cladding in respect to the shingle assembly;

FIG. 15 is a transverse sectional view on line 15-15 of FIG. 7] showing the further lamination of the metal face cladding and the composition shingle body;

FIG. 16 is a transverse cross-sectional view on line 16-16 of FIG. 71 showing the final shingle-laminating step;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary view of the embossing and notching section of the production line taken on line 17-17 of FIG. 7];

FIG. 18 is an end elevational view taken on line 18-18 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary view of the paint-applying station taken on line 19-19 of FIG. 7.];

FIG. 20 is a plan view of the shingle taken on line 20-20 of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a transverse view of the shingle web drive and slitting section taken on line 21-21 of FIG. 71; and

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary detail view taken on line 22-22 of FIG. 2] illustrating mechanism for indenting the face clad of the shingle.

The method herein disclosed may best be understood by first referring to its product. In FIG. 1 the strip shingle is shown as comprising a single layer of asphalt saturated felt 12, this being substantially longer than wide, as clearly shown in that figure. In the specific case shown, the strip shingle may be 3 feet lone and 1 foot wide, for example, and has a series of darkened indentations 14 at intervals of 1 foot, for example, to simulate shingles 1 foot wide. Different widths may be simulated by changing the spacing of the indentations 14, as may be desired.

A so-called ISO-pound asphalt felt 12, which is commercially available and has a thickness of approximately one-sixteenth of an inch, may be used. A range from 20-pound to 60-pound felt is suitable for use.

A highly adhesive and fire-retardant composition 16 is applied over the felt 12 to a thickness which, at the lower or butt edge of the shingle, is substantially greater than that of the saturated felt 12. As here shown, the composition at the lower edge builds the base to a thickness of about one-fourth inch and the composition tapers from the lower edge to a thin covering at the upper edge of the shingle but it is definitely continued to the upper edge where it may have a thickness of approximately one-sixteenth inch. At the upper edge, the thickness of the composition 16 may be comparable to that of the single layer of felt 12. A tin metal sheath 18, preferably aluminum, is applied over approximately one-half of the base. The lower edge of the metal sheath I8 is bent around the thick lower edge of the base as shown at 20 in FIG. 2, and is then reversely bent as shown at 22 in that figure in order to overlie the lower edge of a metallic foil cladding 24 which is preferably an aluminum foil which covers the entire under face of the shingle. The sheet metal cladding I8 is thin but is securely fixed to the base composition because of the adhesive character of the composition which is employed.

The metal sheath I8 and the base are indented at the line 14 at intervals as described, and these indentations are darkened in color to simulate the edge of or shadow line between adjacent individual shingles. The top metal sheathing 18, the composition base 16, the felt l2 and the cladding on the rear face of the shingle are all punched out to form notches 26 along the bottom edge of the shingle at the location of the indentations These notches are rounded in outline in order to avoid sharp inside corners and, in a preferred form, they may be semicircular or slightly deeper, but in any event terminate at their top in a semicircle. It has been found that if the notches are rectangular, the resulting sharp inside corners become points of weakness in that there is tendency to tear at the corners during the notch punching operation. Moreover,

the half round notches accommodate expansion and contraction with changes in temperature, which otherwise cause metal fatigue and formation of cracks radiating from the sharp comers as a result of repeated expansion and contraction over a period of years. The coating on the indentations 14 and around the edge of the notches 26 is preferably black, or a dark color, which is related to the shingle color as, for example, very dark brown for a lighter brown shingle.

The fire-retardant and adhesive composition 16 preferably comprises a mixture of coating asphalt, mineral filler, asbestos, perlite, soya bean oil, and mica. More specifically, in a preferred formulation, it comprises 75 parts of coating asphalt, 30 parts of mineral filler, parts of asbestos fiber, 10 parts of perlite, 5 parts of soya bean oil, and 5 parts of mica, this proportion being by weight. The asbestos fiber may be sized as IRS type. The soya bean oil may be alkaline, either refined or it may be raw, the latter being less expensive and quire effective.

A composition such as described may initially burn but burning it cokes and forms a skeletal insulating blanket which prevents the further spread of flame, so that the undersurface is preserved and, therefore, the usual wooden roofing deck is preserved. The weights given in the above formulation may vary by a reasonable amount, say plus or minus 20 percent.

As stated in the preferred form of the shingle, it has an undersurface of the metallic foil 24 which is preferably aluminum adhesively attached to the saturated felt base 12 by an adhesive asphalt. The asphalt is applied hot and may include in its hot melt a suitable adhesive, so that the foil is firmly attached to the felt base. The foil 24 is applied before the metal face sheathing 18, the lower edge of the foil 24 thereby being embraced and clamped beneath the reversely folded edge 22 of the face sheathing 18.

The metal face sheating 18, as stated, is preferably sheet aluminum which has a thickness of between 6 and 12 thousandths of an inch. This is thin enough so that s single strip is readily cut when installing the shingle to fit a roof end or a valley, etc., as by scoring with a knife or by using shears. The aluminum may be a utility grade sheet aluminum. An example is No. 3105 alloy, treated to be half hard." It is preferably embossed as indicated by the line 28 to give a good grain finish. The embossed face is only diagrammatically illustrated by the lines 28 in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, since the embossing extends over the entire face sheathing excepting at the indentations 14. The embossing not only enhances the appearance of the shingle but also increases the adhesion of the sheathing to the underlying asphaltic composition.

The shingles may be given any desired color, and for this purpose a Plastisol" vinyl resin paint may be used, which is so flexible that the sheet aluminum may be coated before being embodied in the shingle structure and also embossed prior to its incorporation into the strip shingle. Moreover, it is so durable that it has a life expectancy of 20 years or more.

The foil rear facing 24 is preferably an aluminum foil which has a thickness of the order of 0.500035 inch. It provides a desirable heat reflector in addition to that provided by the face sheathing. The foil facing 24 covers the entire rear surface of the shingle and its surfaces are brightly polished. This serves as a radiant heat reflector in both directions by reflecting heat originating either inside or the outside of the house. It also serves to seal the lower surface of the shingle, preventing any degradation of the asphaltic materials which otherwise might result by reason of long exposure to humidity. There is a tendency for the asphaltic materials to leach out upon prolonged exposure to moisture and, therefore, leave the fibers in a loose condition and not tightly bound. Also, the aluminum surface of the bottom side, as a consequence of this, is a vapor barrier which prevents the moisture accumulations on the inside of the house from penetrating the shingle surface.

Moreover, by virtue of its ability to reflect radiant heat, the

shingle is less likely to absorb any heat from flames and, theretend to transfer the heat of any hot point such as generated by a burning ember. Such heat is transferred over a wide area and is thereby dissipated. Furthermore, by reason of the fact that the foil is tightly adhered to the surface of the asphalt, it prevents oxygen from intimate contact with the asphalt and, therefore, the asphalt cannot burn on that side of the shingle until the aluminum itself is destroyed, all of which tend to enhance its fire-resistant characteristics.

In the process of handling and installing the single, the asphaltic material, where exposed, will inevitably cling to the hands of those handling it. When such conditions exist, there is a great likelihood that exposed surfaces of the shingle may be soiled. With the entire rear surface of the shingle covered by foil, there is a greatly reduced chance that the exposed surface of the shingle would be stained during handling.

A line of small indentations 30 is formed near the upper edge of the face sheathing 18. These result from pressure by a feed chain as the materials are fed in strip form during the time they pass through the production line. They augment the adherence of the face sheathing 18 to the asphaltic under body and they may also be utilized as nailing guides.

In ordinary asphalt-felt shingles, the asphaltic material is initially protected by granules but the granules erode away in time and then the exposed asphalt dries out and deteriorates. In the present shingle, the composition area in the upper half of the shingle is permanently covered by the next higher row of shingles, and then exposed lower half of the shingle is permanently protected by the metal sheathing l8 cemented thereon.

While it is feasible to continuously produce single strip shingles such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the preferred practice of the method results in a double strip consisting of integral sectional 10a and 10b, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Such double strip is ultimately cut apart along its media] line indicated by the clashes 32 as shown in FIG. 5.

The method is performed in its preferred form in a single production line, illustrated in FIGS. 7A through 7.]. These FIGS., when placed end to end, comprise a view of the production line generally along its center line; some details of the apparatus being omitted to avoid obscuring the essential steps of the method.

The head of the production line (FIG. 7A) is occupied by a felt reel 34 which is the source of the felt base 12. A commercially available 30-pound felt having a thickness of approximately one-sixteenth inch is suitably employed. Felt of 20 pounds to 60 pounds is suitable. This felt may be prcsaturated as it is commonly available on the market, but preferably a dry unsaturated felt is employed to guard against the possibility of moisture spots which would cause bubbling in the hot asphaltic coating which is later applied. Consequentiy, as shown in FIG. 7A, the method has been adapted to the saturation of the dry felt.

The felt strip 12 passes over a guide roller 36 and into a dry felt accumulator 38. The dry felt accumulator 38 comprises an upright structure having mounted therein a plurality of felt accumulator rolls about which the felt is looped. A set of accumulator rolls 40 are fixed to rotate in the bottom of the accumulator frame. At the top of the frame is a pair of flowing crossbars 42 (only one of which is shown) between which extend a second set of accumulator rollers 44. The crossbars 42 are guided in the accumulator frame for movement up and down within the frame whereby the felt loops may shorten as demand on them increases or on the other hand, they may lengthen as demand on them decreases. The crossbars 42 are under the control of counterweights 46 connected to the crossbars 42 by means of control cables 48. A gear shaft 50 having at opposite ends thereof bevelled gears 52 engaging similar bevelled gears 54 associated with the pinions about which the control cables 48 are trained.

From the drive felt accumulator, the felt strip 12 is fed between a pair of pinch rolls 56 and from thence passes into a saturating section 58 where the felt is saturated. The saturating section is preferably enclosed by an enclosure 60 because the saturant that is employed is volatile and inflammable In its passage through the saturating section, the felt 12 passes a plurality of spray nozzles 62 which apply a saturant to the felt which is now looped about guide rollers 64, 66, 68 and 70. A saturant tank 72 which is substantially filled with a felt saturant is included in the enclosure 60 for the immersion of loops or felt looped about rollers 74 and 76. As many of these rollers as may be necessary to accomplish the task will naturally be employed. At the exit end of the saturating section is a pair of rollers 78 which extract excess saturant from the felt strip. After leaving the saturating section, the felt is looped about a plurality of striking-in-rollers such as 80 and 82 which assure that the saturant completely permeates the felt strip.

One of the important and novel features of the method is the application of the asphaltic material to the face of the continuously moving felt strip. This step is performed in a coating section 84 which is shown in FIG. 7B. A heated asphaltic coating material 16 is supplied from a tank or coating mixer 88 in an overhead location. The composition, as stated, preferably comprises a mixture of coating asphalt, mineral filler, asbestos fiber, perlite, soya bean oil and mica. More specifically, in a preferred formulation, it comprises 75 parts of coating asphalt, 30 parts of mineral filler, parts of asbestos fiber, 10 parts of perlin, 5 parts of soya bean oil, and 5 parts of mica; this proportion being by weight. The asbestos fiber may be sized as 6R8 type. The soya bean oil may be alkaline, either raw or refined, the former being less expensive and quite effective.

As the felt strip 12 passes over a bed plate 90 opening of a coating valve 92 permits coating mixer to flow in a plastic condition onto the face of the felt base 12. The mass of coating material is spread over the felt base 10 by a contour tube 94 which, as best seen in FIG. 8, spreads the coating mixture over the face of the felt web 12 to impart to the shingle the tapered contour previously described as being relatively thick at its butt edge but tapering down to a relatively thin area at its inner edge.

It should be noted at this point that the method and apparatus for performing it can be so modified as to produce a single shingle strip, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, but the preferred exercise of the method and the more effective apparatus for performing produces a double shingle, such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, which is then subsequently severed along its medial line as before explained. The contour tube 94, shown in FIG. 8, is adapted to produce a double shingle in this continuous method for shingle production. The tube 94 as shown in FIG. 8 does not rotate continuously but merely operates as a barrier for shaping and sizing the asphaltic material on the face of the felt web as the web and material pass under the tube. The tube is mounted in side frames 96 and 98 wherein it may be rotated. Such rotation can be accomplished by inserting a rod into one of a plurality of apertures 100 formed about each end of the contour tube. Periodic rotation of the tube may be desirable or required to avoid excessive caking of the asphaltic material 16- on the face of the tube. Under some conditions it may be desirable to impart constant rotation to the contour tube 94. This may be particularly desirable if the composition of the mass 16 is changed materially from the described formulation. Any suitable means of conventional structure may be employed to rotate the tube.

It should be noted that the apparatus of FIG. 7B permits adjustment of the bed plate 90. The bed plate 90 is pivoted on a pivot rod 102- and is supported at its forward end by a bed plate adjusting cam 104.

By manipulating the adjusting cam 104, the gap between the bed plate 90 and the contouring tube 94 may be increased or decreased to control the thickness of the asphaltic material which is being spread onto the felt web.

As the asphalt coated web 12 emerges from the coating section, the asphaltic material is still quite hot and must, therefore, be handled with care in a cooling process, such that the asphalt will maintain its form on the felt web. The first cooling effect is obtained by passing the coated web over a table 106 on which operates an endless conveyor 108 trained about a pair of rollers 110 and 112. In its passage over the table under the influence of the conveyor 108, the coated web is subjected to no pulling forces and this insures the maintenance of the bevelled contour of the asphaltic material. The coated web is fed toward a cooling section by means of a pulling and cooling conveyor 114 which consists of a conventional asphalt coated sheet pin-chain drive 114 which has an arched web supporting surface 116 which is centrally slotted in a longitudinal direction to permit pins 118 of an endless pin-chain drive 120 to engage the felt web and 'pull it over the supporting surface 1 16.

The coated web with its coating still at a relatively high temperature is next fed into an elongated cooling section, shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D. The coated web passes from the pulling and cooling conveyor 114 to a second pin-chain drive 122 which is generally like the pin-chain drive 114 but somewhat smaller in structure.

Over the pin band of the pin-chain drive 122 is a hold down device 124 which serves to establish a positive engagement of the pins of the pin-chain drive with the web. The hold down device 124 is pivoted on a stud 126 and has a rear end thereof pivoted to the piston of a dash pot 128 which maintains sufficient pressure on the head of the hold down device to assure its intended purpose.

As the coated web passes into the cooling section of the line, it is formed into loops about web support rods 130 of a walking beam assembly 132. This walking beam assembly comprises a pair of laterally spaced endless sprocket chains 134 (only one shown) which are trained about drive sprockets 136, 138, and 142, one or more of which may be driven. The web-supporting rods 130 extend between the laterally spaced endless sprocket chain 134 at equally spaced intervals and are carried along by the chain as they are operated. It will be evident, therefore, that there is no linear movement of the coated web as it passes through the cooling section but that the web loops are carried through the cooling section as the upper run of the endless chains 134 move from the entrance of the cooling section to its discharge end. The cooling section will be made as long as may be necessary to permit the asphaltic coating to cool to a substantial degree but not to an extent where it loses its tackiness or adhesive character since this latter character is utilized at a later point in the method during the attachment of the metallic face cladding to the shingle assembly.

As the coated and somewhat cooled web leaves the cooling section, it is again engaged by a pin-chain drive 144 which is of a structure corresponding to the pin-chain drive 122 of FIG. 7C at the entrance of the cooling section. A hold dow 145, similar in structure to that in FIG. 7C, is also associated with the pin-chain drive 144 to effect engagement between the pins of the pin-chain drive and the web.

After the web has sufficiently cooled, steps are taken to apply the metallic facings. The entire rear face of the web is first covered with a metallic foil 24 preferably of aluminum. While any suitable metallic foil may be employed, it is contemplated that in the preferred performance of the method that it be an aluminum foil which has the thickness of the order of 0.500035 inch. The foil-applying operation is illustrated in FIG. 7E. As the web passes over a guide roller 146 it is brought into contact with an applicator roller 148 which is adapted to apply an adhesive 150 which is held in an adhesive tank 152 in which the applicator roller 148 rotates. A doctor knife 154cooperates with the applicator roller 148 to control the amount of adhesive that is applied to the undersurface of the felt web. The adhesive coated face of the felt web is now brought into confluence with the metallic foil 24. This foil is supplied from a coil cradle 156. It is looped about a plurality of guide rollers from where it is fed into an entry conveyor 158 having an endless conveyor belt 160 trained about a pair of rollers 162 and 164 (FIG. 7F), one of which is driven.

A reserve coil cradle 168 is provided for a reserve coil 170 of the metallic foil so that the foil from the latter may be spliced to the end of the coil 156 during the continuous operation of the method and without interruption thereto for the splicing operation.

From the entry conveyor 160, the aluminum foil 24 and the superimposed coated felt web pass onto a second endless belt conveyor 172 trained about rollers 174 and 176 (FIG. 7H), one of which may be driven thereby carrying the foil and its superimposed coated felt web along the line in a continuous fashion.

Located over the endless conveyor 172 is a strip tower 178 (FIG. 7F) which is adapted to accumulate metallic strip from strip unwinding and splicing equipment (not shown). The face sheathing 18 is preferably sheet aluminum which has a thickness of between 6 and 12 thousandths of an inch. It may be a utility grade sheet aluminum, for example, No. 3,105 alloy, treated to be half hard. The sheathing 18 in strip form is fed from its source about a guide roller 180 and through a series of guide rollers 182, 184 and 186 as it enters the strip tower 178. A brake device 188 is associated with the roller 186. As the sheathing strip 18 enters the strip tower 178, it is looped about a plurality of rollers 190 which are fixed for rotation at the bottom of the strip tower frame.

A plurality of head rollers 192 are mounted for rotation in a pair of spaced floating beams 194 (only one sown) at the top of the strip tower. These floating beams are so constructed and arranged as to permit them to rise and fall within the strip tower as demand on the web increases or decreases.

The floating beams 194 have fixed thereto a pair of guide brackets 196 and 198 each of which has a pair of guide rollers 208 and 202 which engage an upright guide standard 204 whereby the floating beams 194 are guided in their movement. A beam-stabilizing system is provided by control cables 206 to which the ends of the beams are fixed. The control cables comprise an endless structure trained about a sprocket 208. A weight 210 is provided at the lower bight of the control cables for limited up and down movement in brackets 212 having therein elongated slots 214. The sprockets 208 have fixed thereto a bevelled gear 216 which is engaged by a mating bevelled gear 218 carried the opposite ends of a control rod 220 thus imparting stability and balanced movement to the floating beam assembly.

As the sheathing strip 18 passes over a series of guide roller 222 at the discharge side of the strip tower 178, it is slit and embossed in a slitting and embossing station, shown in FIG. 76. At its source, the sheathing strip 18 comprises a single width of metal, preferably aluminum, which must be out along its longitudinal centerline to form two sections of face cladding A and 108, as shown in FIG. 5. The strip-cutting operation takes place in a slitter 224 which has therein a rotary knife 226 coacting with a rotary anvil 228. After the strip has been slit, it enters into an embosser 230 having therein a set of embossing rolls 232 and 234. These rolls impart the surface ornamentation 28 (FIG. I) as discussed above in connection with the shingle itself.

Upon leaving the embossing rolls, the severed strip passes into a separator tower 232 having therein a plurality of skewed rollers 234 which are skewed in a direction to cause separation of the slit metal strips as the strips pass thereover. The strips are looped about the skewed rollers 234 at the top of the separator tower 232 and about rollers 236 at the bottom of the separator tower. As the strips pass through the separator tower, they are gently separated from each other to a spacing required by the area between the inner edges of the strip on the shingle structure, as shown in FIG. 5.

The separated strips leave the separator tower by way of a plurality of rollers 238 and then undergo a bending operation which is the first of such operations for conditioning the edges of the strips for application to the tacky face of the asphaltic composition as it continuously passes through the production line. An aluminum-bending station 240 is disposed over the endless conveyor 172, as shown in FIG. 7H. This bender has therein a plurality'of forming rollers 242 which impart the configuration to the metal facing strips 18, as shown in FIG. 10. This is to say, the outer edges 244 of these strips are bent downwardly at an obtuse angle, while the inner edges 246 are crimped inwardly such that when the actual laminating process begins, these edges will bite into the asphaltic coating 16.

The partially formed metal strips 18 are fed through a strip guide channel 248 which is disposed over the conveyor 172 (FIG. 9). As the strips 18, partially formed, emerge from the guide channel 248, they are deposited onto the face of the asphaltic coating 16 with the outer edges thereof overhanging the respective edges of the shingle as thus far completed (FIG. 10). This is a necessary attitude to permit further forming of the overhanging edges about the butt edges of the shingles being formed.

The single structure is completed by further lamination and formation of the enclosing metal edge structure in edge rolling and final bending mechanism 250 and in laminating and finishing rolls 252, as shown in FIG. 7.]. At the sectional line 11-11 of FIG. 7], the elements comprising the composite shingle have all been assembled but further forming and lamination must take place from the state illustrated in FIG. 11 to the final form illustrated in FIG. 16. A first bending die 254 consisting of supporting rollers 256 and bending rollers 258 at each edge of the shingle will further depress the overhanding edges of the face sheathing as shown in FIG. 12.

A second edge forming die 260, as shown in FIG. 13, consists of a pair of tapered rollers 262 having end flanges 264. The rollers 262 hold the strips l8 in firm position, pressing them against the face of the asphaltic composition while at the same time the flanges 264 which embrace the edges of the shingle structure will secure the extending edge of the face sheathing l8 neatly against the respective edges of the composite shingle.

The final forming operation insofar as the face sheathing is concerned takes place in a third forming die 266 which consists of a pair of spools 268 disposed to rotate at the opposite edges of the shingle as the shingle strip passes therethrough. The spools 268 have a cylindrical reduced portion 270 adapted to press firmly against the edges of the shingle strip and a pair of end flanges 272 and 274 adapted to embrace respectively the front and rear surface of the shingle strip along its opposite edges. This operation now finally forms the encasing sheathing by bending the outer edge thereof onto the back of the shingle in overlapping relationship to the foil covering on the rear face.

The shingle strip is continuously fed from the edge rolling and final bending dies into laminating rolls and finish forming rolls 276. Sets of laminating rollers 278 (FIG. 15) cooperating with the support rollers 280 apply laminating pressure onto the passing single strip whereby the metallic sheathing elements are tightly pressed against the strip to insure perfect adhesion between the metal sheathing and the underlying shingle structure. A final finish rolling is applied in a plurality of rollers 282 and 284 as best sown in FIG. 16.

At this point the shingle strip has assembled therein all of its several components. All that remains to be done is form therein the face grooves M, the edge notches 26, the painting of the face grooves, the longitudinal slitting of the shingle strip and the cutting of the same into predetermined lengths. These operations in the order named are performed in a embossing and notching section 286 a painting secton 288, a web drive and slitting section 290 and a cutoff section 292, all shown at the right in FIG. 7]

The embossing and notching mechanism may, of course, assume a number of forms, as, indeed, may the remainder of the mechanism which is shown herein only for purpose of illustrating an exemplary performance of the method and this mechanism is best illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18. A driven drum 294 has therein a plurality of notching knives 296 which are actuated by a fixed cam plate 298 as the drum 224 is driven in rotation. The notching knives include a cam follower A suitable paint, usually of a darker shade than the exposed face of the single, is now applied to the depressions 14 which form a continuation of the notched structure 26. A suitable paint is Plastisol" vinyl resin paint, this being so flexible that the sheet aluminum may be coated before being coated before being embodied in the shingle structure and embossed as part of the strip shingle. This paint is also applied in a continuous manner in the painting section 288. As more fully shown in FIG. 19, the painting section includes a drum 306 carrying thereon at its outer edges a plurality of brush devices 308 to which a suitable paint is applied from a tough 310 (FIG. 7] by means of a pair of transverse rollers 312.

After the operation heretofore described, the strip shingle is continuously fed through the web drive and slitting section 290. The web drive is show in fragmentary detail in FIG. 22 while the slitting operation is performed by a slitting knife 314, as shown in FIG. 21.

The web drive of FIG. 22 comprises a pair of endless drive chains 316 and 318 trained about drive sprockets 320 and 322, respectively, at the entrance end of the web drive and similar sprockets 324 and 326 at the discharge end of the web drive. The endless drive chain 316 has a protuberance 328 formed in the face of each link thereof. These protuberances effectively form the line of dimples 30 (FIG. 1) along the inner edge of each face sheathing 18.

As the shingle web advances under the knife 314 it, in conjunction with a grooved rotary support 330, will sever the shingle web along its media] line 32, thus forming two completed shingle strips. Obviously, there is a limit to the length of a shingle strip which can be handled with ease and convenience. Therefore, the final operation of the strip is performed in the cutoff section 292 where the strips are transversely cut by a rotary cutter 332 (FIG. 7]). This cutter may be chosen to cut single shingles, as in FIG. 3, or strips of multiple shingles, as in FIG. 1.

The completed shingles, either as individual shingles or multiple shingle strips, are deposited on a takeoff conveyor 334 for further handling. The asphaltic composition of the shingle is not yet fully cooled and the shingles are, therefore, completely cooled and then assembled into suitable packages.

A series of loop-actuated microswitches 340 (FIG. 7C), 342 (FIG. 7D), 344 (FIG. 7F), 346 and 348 (FIG. 70) and 350 (FIG. 7H) are located along the course of the shingle strip for operation by a loop of the latter when for any reason there is excessive elongation or shortening of the loop. These switches in the drive motor control the system and serve to regulate the speed at which the material is carried through the forming line, feeding more strip material when the control loop becomes so short as to permit an associated microswitch to operate and feeding at a slower rate when the associated microswitch is operated by an elongating loop.

While a presently preferred apparatus for performing the method herein has been shown and described, substantially different apparatus may be employed for its performance. Moreover, obvious changes may be made in the steps of the method itself, and the order to certain of the steps may be altered, or certain operations may be entirely omitted without departing from the spirit of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A method of continuously fabricating composition shingles having a buttedge and a headlap area which comprise the steps of depositing a plasticized asphaltic compound upon a continuously moving backing web, shaping said compound to form a tapered body thereof forming at the upper edge of said single a thin edge and a greater thickness at the butt (opposite b0 y) edge thereof, adhesively applying a metal foil to t e entire exposed rear face of said continuously moving backing web, and applying a metallic face sheathing (to a portion of the) about said butt edge and to a portion of said face of said asphaltic material as said backing web continues its movement.

2. The method of claim 1 in which said asphaltic composition is heated to plasticity and said web with the hot plastic formed thereon is passed through a cooling zone in the form of static loops. (without imparting linear movement thereto).

3. The method of claim 1, in which said metal foil is applied along each edge of said web, said face sheathing is continuously supplied from a single coil thereof which is continuously slit and the strips so slit are gradually separated in a continuous manner from each other prior to application in said asphaltic compound.

4. The method of claim 1, in which said face cladding has the edge thereof continuously formed to a predetermined pattern prior to placement thereof into contact with said asphaltic composition on said moving web.

5. The method of claim 4, in which said edge-formed cladding is guided into contact with the face of said asphalt compound while said backing web and said cladding strip are continuously moving forward at the same speed.

6. The method of claim 5, in which said face cladding is formed about the butt edge of said shingle as said web moves forward.

Col.

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Patent No.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 607.529 D ted September 21, 1971 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

1, line 61, for "beinding" read --bending--;

the rest line line

line

line

line

line

line

line

51, for "tin" read --thin--;

after "dentations" add a period for "quire" read --quite--;

for "sheeting" read "sheathing";

II II for s read "12-";

after "foil" add a period and delete of the sentence.

9, for "single" read "shingle";

28, for "then" read --the--;

34, for "sectional" read --seetions-;

1, after "inflammable" add a period "'0";

7, for "or" read '-of--;

27, for "612s" read --'ms-;

56, after "has" insert --been-;

62, after "foil" insert a period and delete the rest of the sentence.

RM PO-1050110-59! USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 n u s oovzwmuim PRINHNG OFFICE was O366334 Col.

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Patent No. 3,607,529

)RM PC3-1050 (10-69) 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Dated September 21, 1971 I v n l( ALEXANDER, A. CHALMERS and SALVATORE T. GIUN'IA It: is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

line 27, for "sown" read --shown line for "0" read '--on--;

line for "single" read --shingle-;

line 57, for "sown" read "shown";

5, for "32" read "-3 II II line for a read --an--;

line 13, delete "coated before being";

(201.9, line 19, for "tough" read --trough--;

line 23, for "show" read --shown--;

line 14, for "to" read --of--;

line 19, for "buttedge" read --butt edge--;

line 23, for "single" read --sh1ngle-- and '(opposite body)" should be deleted;

line 26, delete "(to a portion of the)";

line 33, delete "(without imparting linear movement thereto)"; 

2. The method of claim 1 in which said asphaltic composition is heated to plasticity and said web with the hot plastic formed thereon is passed through a cooling zone in the form of static loops. (without imparting linear movement thereto).
 3. The method of claim 1, in which said metal foil is applied along each edge of said web, said face sheathing is continuously supplied from a single coil thereof which is continuously slit and the strips so slit are gradually separated in a continuous manner from each other prior to application in said asphaltic compound.
 4. The method of claim 1, in which said face cladding has the edge thereof continuously formed to a predetermined pattern prior to placement thereof into contact with said asphaltic composition on said moving web.
 5. The method of claim 4, in which said edge-formed cladding is guided into contact with the face of said asphalt compound while said backing web and said cladding strip are continuously moving forward at the same speed.
 6. The method of claim 5, in which said face cladding is formed about the butt edge of said shingle as said web moves forward. 